


Asleep On His Feet

by argylemikewheeler



Series: Tumblr Re-posts [44]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, Flashbacks, M/M, Nightmares, Short One Shot, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 03:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18402290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argylemikewheeler/pseuds/argylemikewheeler
Summary: Prompt: Byler angst? Maybe with Will having flashbacks to the upside down and his reaction scares Mike?





	Asleep On His Feet

Will had been weird since first period science. Will sat in his desk by Mike, eyes glazed over and posture slack. Lucas responded to Mike’s passed note with a suggestion that Will was just tired, but he looked beyond the help of a nap. Will looked exhausted, his eyes dull and sliding from his notebook and Mr. Clarke to stare down at his hands. He didn’t raise his hand to answer a single question. **  
**

Mike waited until at least lunch to pull him aside. Lucas and Dustin had called an AV Club meeting, but Mike was sure they could be late. At least he’d have the chance to speak to Will alone before Dustin came searching for them. Will’s locker was the furthest from the AV room and they’d have the most time if Mike could catch Will at his locker; he felt bad for laughing at the idea of Will, tired and slouching, out-running him at any point, honestly. He took his time.

“Will! Hey!” Mike saw Will resting against the wall of lockers, head leaning on the metal door. The sharp edges of the locker door were going to leave an imprint on Will’s face his mother would sue the school over. “You can’t really be sleeping.”

Will remained against the lockers, his posture rigid to remain upright.

“…Will?"

The comforting idea of Will simply being sleeping on his feet was yanked from Mike as he stopped beside Will. His eyes were racing behind his eyelids and lips twitching in a silent cry. His muscles were tense and entire body frozen stiff. He looked like a corpse on two feet.

“Will!” Mike grabbed his arms and shook him. “Will! Wake up! Wake up, Will! Come on, it’s me– It’s Mike. You’re safe! Wake up, Will!” He shouted. Will’s head lolled around against his shoulders as Mike tried to rouse him. As if on loosened string, Will’s entire body went limp and fell into Mike. “Oh, oh okay. You’re okay, Will. Come on. You need to wake up, Will.  _Please_.”

The rigidity was replaced with an even more frightening feeling that Will was no longer even asleep or having a nightmare. His limp body tangled with Mike’s arms as he tried to support his weight and keep his head from hitting any of the lockers. Will’s chest heaved with long, frantic breaths, and it was the only comfort Mike had to know he was alive.

“Will, what’s happening? I need you to come back!” Mike begged, trying to speak quietly to Will. He thought maybe,  _maybe_ , something in Will would feel Mike’s words closer than his own body and come back to the surface. “Will, please. I can’t hold you up much longer.” Will was small, but it wasn’t often Mike had to keep him off the ground and casually propped up to avoid suspicion to passing students; they hugged enough that it looked normal…  _right_?

Mike was growing weak quickly and Will began slipping through his hands. He pleaded with him quietly, asking the physical laws of science to be on his side. Will’s legs went rigid and pushed them both further into the lockers. Will’s entire body was beginning to convulse with his breaths, his shoulders arching backward as his entire chest swelled with a gasp of air.

“Will… Will, come  _on_. I can’t do this. Will, come on.”

“…Mike?” Will’s rigid legs bent slowly. His feet found the floor and his hands found Mike’s arms. “Mike, are you okay?”

“ _Me_?” Mike cried. “Will, I–I… Oh my god.” He took Will in his arms again, prepared for complete collapse.

“Wait.” Will sighed, groaning. “Did I fall asleep again?”

“Asleep? That was not you sleeping.” Mike argued, pulling back to stare at Will. He was still panting and his complexion hadn’t returned. The red dryness of Will’s eyes drained the color out with his frustrated tears.

“D-Darn! It’s this stupid nightmare I’ve been having. I keep having it– I fall asleep and I’m  _there_ again. I’m in the Upside Down and I’m being chased and I’m  _dying_. And then I’m  _back_ , but I’m possessed, I can’t  _move_ and I’m being  _smothered_ and– and–”

“You’re okay. You’re fine.” Mike said, grabbing Will again. His body held firm and solid against Mike’s hands. “You’re alive.”

“I’m sorry I scared you, Mike.” Will said. “I was meaning to tell you guys at AV today… But I got in my own way.”

“I’m glad I came to get you.” Mike muttered. He wasn’t sure who else would have found Will, asleep and looking about to transcend into death. The floors only looked like tile, but were just as hard, and an open locker door was a makeshift knife; Will could have gotten seriously hurt if Mike hadn’t been there to catch him. Maybe no one would have. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“Mike, it’s fine.”

“No. Come on, let’s finish the day and then I’m walking you home.” Mike said, grabbing Will’s hand. He pulled on it firmly, but didn’t begin walking until Will took his first steady step. “You’re safe with us.”

“I know.” Will smiled. His hand tightened around Mike’s. “I know that, Mike. Thank you.”

Mike felt another sentence hanging in the air; he was too young to say it, too young to understand what the three words meant, but still knew it to be true. Mike’s fear ran deeper than before, ringing through his bones and gouging his heart. He was sure he would be told he was being dramatic and blowing things out of proportion when he told his friends or even Nancy, but  _love_ magnified fear into a monster. But there was enough warmth and fluttering in Mike’s stomach to fend it off the rest of the way to AV Club.

**Author's Note:**

> [The Rebloggable Post!](https://argylemikewheeler.tumblr.com/post/173488332068/if-youre-taking-requests-for-fics-would-you-be)


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